A team of neurologists at the University of Illinois has created a map of the structures in the brain responsible
for intelligence and intellectual functioning.

The study roped in 182 veterans of the Vietnam War who had
volunteered to be part of the project. Each had highly-localised
brain damage from penetrating head injuries, allowing the
researchers to "draw inferences about how specific brain
structures are necessary for performance," according to Aron
Barbey, who led the study.

He added: "By studying how damage to particular
brain regions produces specific forms of cognitive impairment, we
can map the architecture of the mind, identifying brain structures
that are critically important for specific intellectual
abilities."

The participants were asked to undertake a number of
cognitive tests and CT scans of their brains were taken, too. The collected data
was assembled into a three-dimensional map of the brain that
correlates damage to a particular region with the effects in
particular cognitive abilities. By doing so, it was possible to
work out which brain regions were essential to specific functions,
and which contributed most significantly to
intelligence.

For example, Barbey said: "We found that general
intelligence depends on a remarkably circumscribed neural system.
Several brain regions, and the connections between them, were most
important for general intelligence." Those regions can be
found on the left behind the forehead, behind the left ear, and at
the top rear left of the head, so if you're anticipating some head
trauma, those are the places to watch out for.

It turns out, too, that these regions are the ones
responsible for planning, self-control and other aspects of executive function. You can see those regions in the image
embedded in this post -- yellow indicates areas specific to
executive function, orange shows regions specific to general
intelligence, and the red areas play both roles.

Barbey says he hopes that the results of his research will
"open the door to further investigations into the biological
basis of intelligence, exploring how the brain, genes, nutrition
and the environment together interact to shape the development and
continued evolution of the remarkable intellectual abilities that
make us human".